The Shields Gazzete’s Liam Kennedy has been discussing whether or not Newcastle United will try and sign Boubakary Soumare from LOSC Lille.
During the January transfer window, it was reported that the Toon had bid £35m to try and seal the midfielder’s arrival.
However, the player decided against moving to St. James’ Park after Lille accepted the transfer offer for the 21-year-old Frenchman (per BBC).
At the time, Steve Bruce stated on the failed transfer: “We’ll just have to wait and see what we can do in the summer.”
So, in a recent episode of NUFC Matters on YouTube, Kennedy made an appearance and discussed whether or not the Toon will go back in for the midfielder.
He said: “He’s another one of these players that they constantly chase.
“I think depending on the situation in France, with regards [to] money, I think he’s probably a player that, because of circumstance has gone outside of Newcastle United’s remit in terms of cash.”
However, the journalist did admit: “You never know. You can never say never.”
TIF Thoughts…
Seemingly, the journalist believes that it is unlikely that the Toon will attempt to try and sign Soumare again this summer, however, he admitted that “you never know”.
Would you like to see Newcastle try and sign Boubakary Soumare again?
Yes, he's a good player
No, he's not good enough
While Soumare’s league performances last season were slightly underwhelming, with the 21-year-old averaging a 6.35 WhoScored match rating over his 20 Ligue 1 appearances, the French midfielder fared considerably better over his six appearances in the club’s 2019/20 Champions League campaign.
Over these fixtures, Soumare, who is valued at £22.05 million (as per Transfermarkt), earned a 6.93/10 average rating which left him as Lille’s second-best performer in the competition (per WhoScored).
So, if the Toon do not attempt to secure the services of the 21-year-old midfielder again, it seems likely that they could be missing out on getting a talented player.